India on February 12 signed a 647 Crore ($91.6 Million) contract with the American small arms company Sig Sauer for the import of 72,400 SiG 716 assault rifles.

This procurement is being done under the Fast Track Procedure under the Buy (Global) category of the Defence Procurement Procedure to replace the indigenous INSAS rifle. The SiG 716 rifles are to be delivered within 12 months of the signing of the contract, and will kick off the modernisation of the small arms inventory of the Indian armed forces.

Of the 72,400 Sig Sauer rifles ordered, 66,400 will go to the Army, 4,000 for the Indian Air Force and 2,000 for the Navy. The procurement process has been completed in just over a year. The Acceptance of Necessity for this rifle was given by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on January 16, 2018.

Sig Sauer's offer for the SiG 716, which fires a 7.62 mm round, emerged the lowest bid (L1) in a competition also involving Russia's Kalashnikov, Bulgaria's Arsenal, Israel's IWI and UAE's Caracel.

While there was an urgency to acquire these rifles in these numbers, a larger Make in India procurement programme will be initiated soon for 650,000 assault rifles.

"The Indian armed forces are presently equipped with the 5.56x45 mm INSAS rifle. There is an urgent requirement for replacing this rifle with a 7.62x51 mm assault rifle which is compact, robust, modern in technology and simple to maintain in field conditions," a Ministry of Defence official said.

The Sig Sauer rifle will be the first American Infantry weapon for the Indian Army in over five decades.

A fast tracked contract with Caracal, a UAE-based company, for 93,895 carbines too is close to being signed. The imported Caracal carbine will begin the replacement process for the vintage 9 mm Sterling carbine

Sig Sauer's offer for the SiG 716, which fires a 7.62 mm round, emerged the lowest bid (L1) in a competition also involving Russia's Kalashnikov, Arsenal, Israel's IWI and UAE's Caracel.

It is also learnt that a fast tracked contract with Caracal, a UAE-based company, for 93,895 carbines too is close to being signed. The imported Caracal carbine will begin the replacement process for the vintage 9 mm Sterling carbine. Under a separate Make in India programme, an additional 350,000 carbines will be acquired. The companies bidding for the Make in India carbine programme include Caracel, Colt, IWI, S&T Motiv and Baretta.

There's yet another programme for acquiring 16,800 Light Machine Guns.

The Indian Army is also reported to have begun acquiring new sniper rifles - the Italian Baretta Lapua Magnum and the American Barret M95.